The present embodiments relate to a downhole cable termination apparatus.
A subsea well may be provided with a tubing hanger for suspending production tubing that extends into a reservoir or a dummy reservoir. The tubing hanger may also house a connector that terminates a cable that extends downhole to supply power to electrical equipment such as an electric submersible pump located in the reservoir or dummy reservoir. Such connectors in the tubing hanger are subjected to hostile conditions such as extreme temperatures and pressures and aggressive chemicals, and thus, the connectors are to be designed to deal with these conditions.
A known system for this environment is the SpecTRON 5™ Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) power feedthrough system produced by Tronic Limited. This system includes a connector for terminating the cable that extends downhole. The termination between the cable and a pin is formed by a cable crimp between the two parts. The termination is covered by an elastomeric termination sleeve that is stretched over the end of the cable and connector pin. This termination is housed in a cable termination chamber that is sealed from the downhole environment by an elastomeric diaphragm and an elastomeric cable boot. The elastomeric diaphragm is filled with a dielectric gel. The diaphragm is flexible and may transmit pressure from the ambient environment to the connector internals to maintain a minimal pressure differential.